The House of Representatives has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the security sector following the recent waves of insecurity in the country.
The decision was sequel to the adoption of a motion on urgent national importance following the recent Boko Haram attack on Auno, Borno State, where about 30 travellers were killed, moved by the Chief Whip, Hon. Mohammed Monguno.
In his lead debate, he said because of the security challenges in the North-east, commuters on the Damaturu-Maiduguri Road were being compelled to suspend their journeys once it is 6.a.m.
Monguno noted that Auno is one of the spots where the Nigerian Army instructs the commuters on the Damaturu -Maiduguri to spend the night before proceeding on their journeys the next morning.
He said on February 9, 2020, while commuters were waiting in Auno, the soldiers left them to their faith or at best abandoned them, adding that while the travellers were waiting to spend the night, Boko Haram insurgents attacked, kidnapped and burnt some of their vehicles.
The lawmaker expressed concern that the occupants of three buses were kidnapped, 18 vehicles burnt and 30 people killed, including an infant.
He expressed concerns that no super military camp exists on the Damanturu-Maiduguri road, hence travellers are exposed to the danger of being killed, maimed or kidnapped.
In his contribution, Hon. Ahmed Jaha alleged that the military authority got an intelligence report of the impending attack and did nothing about it.
Jaha stated: “By the time they locked the gate, 15 minutes preceding the actual time designated for the closure, they left the checkpoint. And for your information, the gate linking that particular village with Damaturu was equally locked. So, the commuters were left helpless and they were exposed to these attacks
“And to the best of our knowledge and from the feelers we have been hearing, this attack was preventable; this attack was avoidable; this attack could have been repelled. But failure or inability on the part of the Nigerian Army to have a constructive listening of intelligence gathering from the DSS and other relevant informants in the community led to this attack.
“From the feelers, they have been receiving and communicating that there is a potential attack by the Boko Haram insurgents as they were sighted in community A and they were heading to community B. Three or four hours preceding the attack, but nobody cares to do anything. The world is watching us.”
Source: THISDAY
